AZO Mounting

[Pawlowski6132]

I'll prolly never own a dry mount press. If I continue to print on AZO how will I ever mount my prints??

I'm actually starting to print on other papers becaue I can't deal with the curl and mounting challenges.

[Daniel Stone]

buy a drymount press(that's the easy answer ;))

seriously, with the prices today used ones are going for, its really worth the extra $'s to get one, and you can get great results, every time.

-Dan

EDIT: if you dry your prints on screens, then there's usually less curl to deal with. I've never worked with Azo, so my experience is limited to Lodima G3(NOT the 1st run, very curly stuff, but the 2nd run)

[jeroldharter]

+1 on the press. Also, you can flatten the curled prints even if you don't dry mount them.

[Pawlowski6132]

I haven't seen anything under $300! Or, am I missing something? That would be the single most expensive thing in my arsenal including 4x5 and 8x10 enlargers and 4x5 and 8x10 cameras. Even lenses.

[Bruce Barlow]

But it's worth it.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

If you want to pay the postage send me the really good prints and I will mount them for you. You of course pay for the board and the tissue and the postage back to you.

[D. Bryant]

I'll prolly never own a dry mount press. If I continue to print on AZO how will I ever mount my prints??

I'm actually starting to print on other papers becaue I can't deal with the curl and mounting challenges.

Dry mounting is the only way to go with AZO. Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamle dry mount all of their finished prints. The single weight of AZO makes dry mounting easy.

Michael and Paula have the largest dry mount print I've ever seen.

Don Bryant

[MIke Sherck]

I bought my Seal press for $40 a few years ago when the Elkhart schools were selling off their darkroom stuff. I see them frequently at this sort of auction. You end up competing with T-shirt design people, but it's still cheaper than any other way of buying that I know of. I've seen presses up to one which could hold 20x24 board sell this way (that one went for, as I recall, $125.) Just haunt the school system auctions and be persistent.

Before I had the press I used an ordinary household iron for years. Takes a bit of practice but with care it works quite well. I got the iron at a yard sale for $3. :)

Mike

[John Jarosz]

I bought mine over 30 years ago. It's still working fine. it's a lifetime purchase that will never need to be upgraded.

I paid $200 thirty years ago, so it works out to $6-$7 per year. Not bad. No matter what process or what size camera you use the mount press stays the same.

And the resale value doesn't really change either.

john

[atlcruiser]

I agree on the press. I scored Seal press 24x36 for $100. It must be 40 years old but still works like a champ.

I purchased all the tissue and such on e bay cheap. The mats and overmats Michael and Paula sell at very reasonable prices in custom sizes.

The azo/lodima paper ran me in circles until I got the press up and running. My only issue is that the press is BIG.

I am happy to have folks use my press if you are in atlanta area.

[jeroldharter]

Often you can get a deal on Craig's List in big cities or Ebay local pick up because the shipping is so expensive. Besides, how do you store curled prints? Over your life, you might spend more on archival storage boxes for curled prints than you would on boxes + dry mount press + flattened prints.

[Herb Cunningham]

Prints don't show well unless they are mounted. A small dry mount press, 11x14 should be found for less than $100 in a local shop.
Spending the $$ for AZO, you should get one.

[John Bowen]

My dry mount press is just about the only photo item that is still going strong 25 years later. I purchased mine new from B&H in the early 80's

Buy one!